


A Bird in a Gilded Cage

by AnitaAlways



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dark Son Goku (Dragon Ball), F/M, Gen, Smart Son Goku (Dragon Ball), at least smarter, but not exactly wiser, inspired by WandaVision
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-26 10:13:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30104349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnitaAlways/pseuds/AnitaAlways
Summary: In a universe outside the concepts of time and space, untouched by the influence of gods, there exists a realm big enough to hold a small county and have room left to create more. In that small county lives the god of that realm, the one controlling everything. His word is law and his whims are reality. Everyone there caters to his will, though they don't know it. Where an outsider may see a god, they see a friend, a family member, a face in the crowd. They don't remember how he trapped them there, don't remember what life was like before this idyllic copy of the real world became their home. They just know the life they live day to day in the universe where the worst thing to go wrong is someone putting mustard in the jelly donuts as a prank.
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Chi-Chi/Son Goku (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. This is the World

In a universe outside the concepts of time and space, untouched by the influence of gods, there exists a realm big enough to hold a small county and have room left to create more. In that small county lives the god of that realm, the one controlling everything. His word is law and his whims are reality. Everyone there caters to his will, though they don't know it. Where an outsider may see a god, they see a friend, a family member, a face in the crowd. They don't remember how he trapped them there, don't remember what life was like before this idyllic copy of the real world became their home. They just know the life they live day to day in the universe where the worst thing to go wrong is someone putting mustard in the jelly donuts as a prank.

This is the world Son Goku created, and he swears to himself that it's perfect. 

A day in that life was simple; someone would cause a problem, a few comedic exchanges would take place as the problem was worked on, and then the problem would resolve itself. Like clockwork.

Yamcha lived on the outskirts of the county, running a baseball field, and if he was being honest, he found it dull. Oh, his interactions with his buddies from old times were fun, and he certainly didn't have any needs that weren't met easily with the money he was making, but he felt oddly trapped. Like his whole world was on loop. Nothing ever changed. He'd had a midlife crisis a while back, changing careers briefly and looking into other interests, but that ended with him right back at the baseball field running both it and its team. It was like the world had written a place for him and everything was built with the understanding that he would fill it. And Yamcha was tired of it.

He wouldn't tell any of his buddies this; it did more harm than good. So he kept it to himself, and lately he'd started keeping notes about what everyone's place in the world was.

Vegeta was the grouchy best friend. Half of the problems Goku and his friends faced was getting Vegeta to agree to do something or finding out the source of his bad mood.

Bulma was his rich wife, wearing makeup galore and using fancy words Yamcha was 95% sure Goku couldn't understand.

Piccolo somehow had landed an office job and now rented a room from Gohan.

Speaking of, it was intriguing how much Gohan and Videl had to "go out," leaving Piccolo to hang out with Pan; Yamcha had only turned up at their house to see the happy couple there once, and he'd been there seventeen times.

Krillin and 18 had become a power couple after she'd joined the police force. They had adventures apart from the rest of the gang. Same for 17, who lived only a block closer to the central area of the county than Yamcha himself did.

His life felt like something out of a TV show, when Yamcha thought about it. And he wasn't sure he liked what that could mean. 

Today, the problem was that Trunks and Goten had gotten into betting (read: Trunks had sweet-talked Goten into putting money on Yamcha's team), and they were winning. Vegeta and Chi-Chi, the responsible parents, had called Yamcha and asked him to talk to the boys about it. So now, he just waited for them to show up; he'd found that he didn't have much else to do. Funny, wasn't it, that the days he was involved in the Son family business, his work was slow and he had nothing to do? But no matter, Trunks and Goten were here. He put on a winning smile and opened the door. "Hey, boys! Come on in!" 


	2. Chapter 2

Sometimes Krillin wondered if Goku’s house had always looked this impressive. His memories of visiting it were cloudy, but he didn’t remember it being so... tall. 

He was there because the guys were getting ready to go bowling, and he’d been invited. Goku loved the game, but he sucked at it. Vegeta had never actually played; Bulma just wanted to hang with the girls, so he had to leave the house and there wasn’t anything better to do. Gohan hadn’t picked up a bowling ball since his teenage years, and Krillin didn’t doubt that he’d lost the touch. Yamcha... he’d said he was too busy to go, but the (immediately, mind you) subsequent arrival of a new assistant, hired by the owner of the baseball team he worked with, meant his workload was shaved enough that Yamcha could go. 

And then there was Krillin. There weren’t nearly as many criminals as there had once been, so work was slower than usual. His job sometimes felt more like an office job than Vegeta’s own, which actually  _ was _ an office job. It felt kind of dull, when he thought about it. He wondered if maybe telling Gohan, the poorly-hidden local superhero, about the previous stress during a dinner with the Son households had been a bad idea because of how quickly things had gone from 100 to 0. But it didn’t matter; he got paid, so he was fine. 

When Goku came out, it was with a cheerful grin and a spring in his step. “Hey, Krillin! You bring the balls?” 

Krillin smiled, a bit too cheerfully for his current mood. “Yeah, I got ‘em!” he replied, holding them up. “Surprised you’re still trying to bowl, man. You’ve gone ten times and you’ve failed miserably ten times.” 

“Nine, the first try doesn’t count.” 

Krillin crossed his arms. “Just because you were learning doesn’t disqualify that from the count. You rolled eight gutterballs, Goku.  _ Eight _ .” 

Goku whined. “It wasn’t my fault,” he complained, and Krillin laughed, flying up to ruffle his best friend’s hair. 

“Yeah, sure. Now, where are Gohan and Vegeta?” 

“At the bowling alley. Vegeta said he’d get the snacks for us. I just hope he doesn’t eat them all.” 

“Don’t get your hopes up. We know he can eat like nobody believes.” 

Goku grinned. “I believe.” 

Krillin chuckled. “Walked right into that one, didn’t I?” 


End file.
